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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Scrapbook Title HACK using vinyl!

Happy Wednesday friends! I wanted to share some crafty inspiration with you today but I'm typing this up as my toddler plays quietly by himself (whaaa? I know... don't... speak...or...move...at...all) so I will keep it brief. As you may or may not know, I'm a *little* behind on my scrapbook. Anyone else? Now I'm not quite as far behind as my mom, who is still working on my elementary school pages but I haven't reached my goal of being caught up on my son's photos before the next baby comes...

...in 3 weeks. Yea, it's not going to happen. That being said, any free time lately has gone to scrapbooking (or working on our business) instead of other crafts. I'll share some layout ideas with you later but HAD to share this little hack with you before I forgot!

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No, this isn't about coming up with something clever as your title but rather about what material you should be using for the titles on your scrapbook spreads!

There are a few options available when putting a title on your scrapbook page.

(1) Write it out by hand.Pros: easy, always available Cons: doesn't look as nice
(2) Use scrapbooking stickers.Pros: fairly easy, looks nicer than handwriting Cons: can get expensive, time consuming, limited to size/design of sticker

Pros: Unlimited font styles, unlimited options for size/color (as long as you have that color vinyl on hand of course) easy to apply, fast to do Cons: a little pricey (cost of vinyl & transfer paper) but not any more than scrapbooking sticker packs from the store.

I'm a big fan of option #4. If you already have a cutting machine and vinyl at home, then this is a no-brainer. If you don't but scrapbook a lot, it's something to consider having on hand (the

Silhouette is awesome to have for scrapbooking and other crafting... not just for titles!)

My super crafty and amazing mother shared this idea with me (here's a guest post she did for me sharing how to make personalized necklaces from Shrinky Dinks!) and I'm so glad she did. It has completely changed my scrapbooking game. I have always hated hand written titles and it seems that the store bought stickers were never the right size or color that I needed (or I ran out of letters!) plus they were expensive.

Using my Silhouette allows me to design my title in any font I like and in any size or shape. Using vinyl saves me time because applying individual pieces of paper took forever and resulted in SO. MUCH. GLUE. on my hands. With vinyl I simply design it, cut it out, weed it and then use transfer paper to move the entire title to my scrapbook page at one time. It's amazing. I seriously can't get over how brilliant of an idea this was.

Don't stop at page titles, use this to create your own "stickers" for your spread! No need to search the stores for a sticker or embellishment that sort-of works, simply design exactly what you want, in the size and color that you want! I just wrote "Baby's First Christmas" but you could easily personalize it with your child's name (I'd like to see you do that sticker company! ha!)

Vinyl is also very thin so it lays nicely on your pages, creating a very crisp and smooth appearance. If you are like me and have to include something lumpy bumpy on your pages, stick with the vinyl title and add a few small touches elsewhere to add dimension. Here's what I did on this particular spread:

I just cut out a few trees (by hand) from the background paper and attached them to the top of some plain creme colored buttons. It drew the different elements from the page together and added a few pops of dimension. I also used a similar idea for creating a layered tree on the title page where I wrote the year details. I like to use hot glue as a way to bind layers together and create dimension (other scrapbook adhesives will just stick them together flat) but there are other options available at the craft store- like those spongy little squares... what are those called again?

Whether you occasionally scrapbook or have years and years of spreads ahead of you- trust me- this idea is worth a try. It's been a complete game changer for me and in many cases will be the way I title from this point on.